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Who could have foreseen that these #21 pictures of Ian Miletic would turn into a limited edition situation?? | Credit: Marquette University
The other day I was looking at some pictures and video clips coming out of the summer workouts for YOUR Marquette men’s basketball team. Nothing super impressive that needs a blog, just guys doing drills, go look at your social media of choice to see ‘em if you want.
But I did realize that they were wearing the practice jerseys with the numbers on them, which made me ask the question: Hey, is the roster page updated for 2026-27 with numbers yet? Turns out the answer is YES, so that means we can check in on which newcomer going to be wearing what and the history of their choice.
Let’s start with Ian Miletic, who is not new but merely coming off a redshirt season and changing his number along the way:
Ian Miletic — #7
It would appear that Ian Miletic had designs on wearing #7 from the get-go at Marquette, as his commitment graphic back in 2024 had him in a #7 jersey. However, when he arrived on campus a year ago, that number was already occupied by Zaide Lowery, and so he opted for #21 during his redshirt season. With Lowery leaving the team midseason and eventually transferring to Dayton, the number is available and Miletic has grabbed it up.
As was the case with his option of #21, the door’s open for Miletic to be the best #7 in Marquette history. Part of that is merely the NCAA rules that stopped players from wearing it for decades. Lowery himself was the first #7 since the 1940s, and none of the previous #7’s, going all the way back to William Hughes in 1938, established themselves as program legends. Seems like Miletic merely has to clear the hurdle of Lowery’s season and a half with the number.
And now in alphabetical order:
Colton Crowdis — #6
Remember when I noted that Zaide Lowery was the first #7 for Marquette since the 1940s? That’s the honor Colton Crowdis will carry for #6 when he checks into a game for the first time. There have been just three #6’s in MU history: Charles Hammer (1939-42), Donald Gerken (1943-44) and Joseph Evans (1945-46). None of them appear in the record book other than their spot on the letterwinners and jersey number lists, so there’s more than just an 80 year streak of no one in #6 on the line for Crowdis if he proves to be capable of contributing at the Division 1 level.
Alex Egbuonu — #21
We’re just doing a series of interconnected numbers here, it seems. Does Ian Miletic count as a #21 in MU history since he didn’t play in 2025-26? If Egbuonu manages to keep #21 for more than one season, he’ll be the first Golden Eagle to do so since Traci Carter had it in 2015-16 and 2016-17. Since Carter didn’t make it through two full seasons in Milwaukee, that would put Egbuonu chasing Joe Fulce as the last notable long term #21 on the roster, and he hasn’t worn it since 2011. There aren’t a notable pile of #21’s in Marquette history, with maybe Ulice Payne wearing it for the 1977 championship team as the standout.
Sananda Fru — #11
God bless Sananda Fru, but he has absolutely zero chance at being the best #11 in Marquette history. He won’t even be the best #11 that Shaka Smart coaches at Marquette, barring I guess the possibility that Fru ends up as the National Player of the Year. This is obviously because Tyler Kolek was a two-time consensus All-American at Marquette as #11.
Heck, Fru is going to have a hard time being the most notable #11 in Marquette history, much less basketball team history. Back in the mid-1940s, Ray Eckstein wore #11 for MU, and seeing as his name is now on 1) the law school, 2) one of the two towers in The Commons, and 3) the grassy space between the AMU and Schroeder Hall, you can easily argue that Marquette students are going to be mentioning Ray Eckstein more over the years to come than they talk about Tyler Kolek on campus.
TRIVIA TIME: Do you know who the last #11 for Marquette was before the program retired it in honor of the Apollo 11 mission that landed on the moon in 1969? It was Pat Smith, who is the player in the famous staged photo with Al McGuire after DePaul head coach Ray Meyer blew a gasket about a pair of ejections in a game against the Blue Demons. You can see his #11 peeking out from under his warmup jacket in the photo.
Ethan Johnston — #33
Have people been avoiding wearing #33 at Marquette because it was Jimmy Butler’s number? There have been just two since Butler was selected in the first round of the NBA Draft in 2011: Derrick Wilson the very next season, and Dawson Garcia in 2020-21. That’s it, two seasons in 15 years since Butler embarked on his probably Hall Of Fame caliber pro career.
Is Butler the best #33 in Marquette history? The other obvious option is Bernard Toone, who played in the 1977 national championship game (scoring six points in six minutes!) and then led Marquette in scoring and rebounding as team captain in 1978-79. He’s still #43 on the all-time scoring chart — Butler is #34 — and Toone lands in a tie for the fifth most wins in program history behind three of his 1977 teammates and Earl Tatum, too.
In either case, if Ethan Johnston becomes the best #33 in Marquette history, we’re all going to be very happy with how the next four years play out.
Nolan Minessale — #4
#4 will be back on the court for Marquette next fall after a one year layoff. Stevie Mitchell picked it up from Theo John, so that led to an active streak from 2017 through 2025. That’s a heck of a consistent run for a number that lay quiet after Gene Berce last wore it in 1948 until Dom Smolinski picked it back up in 1981. Seems like all the single digits have something like this in their history, which is very weird. Was there an NCAA rule about single digits like there was for digits greater than 5 for a long time or something?
Anyway, Gene Berce was a heck of a #4 back in the day, leading Marquette in scoring in three different seasons, and his 17.7 per game mark in 1948 is still the 10th best all time for a MU junior. He is credited as the first Marquette player ever drafted by an NBA team, and until Don Kojis debuted in 1964, Berce was, at least according to the records I can track down, the only MU player to ever score in an NBA game. In a nice little connection, Berce was also a Marquette High School graduate, just like Minessale.
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